Sally Brosz Hardin

Psychological distress of adolescents exposed to Hurricane Hugo

To ascertain the effects of a natural disaster on adolescents, 1482 South Carolina high school students who were exposed to Hurricane Hugo were surveyed 1 year after the disaster. Subjects completed a self-administered questionnaire measuring Hugo exposure, nonviolent and violent life events, social support, self-efficacy, and psychological distress. Results showed that the students reported minimal exposure to the hurricane and psychological distress variables approximated national norms. As exposure increased, adolescents reported increased symptoms of psychological distress; i.e., anger, depression, anxiety, and global mental distress. Females and white students experienced higher levels of distress. In most cases, other stressful life events were at least as strong a predictor of psychological distress as was exposure to the hurricane. Self-efficacy and social support were protective.

Effects of traumatic events, social support, and self-efficacy on adolescents' self-health assessments.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adolescents’exposure to traumatic events and their self-health assessments, and to examine the protective effects of social support and self-efficacy on this relationship. Survey results (N = 1,427) indicated that experiencing violent and nonviolent negative life events and being exposed to a disaster were inversely associated with adolescents’ positive health assessments. As social support and self-efficacy decreased, adolescents’ health assessments worsened. Female and Black adolescents had less favorable health assessments than their male and White counterparts. Findings suggest that traumatic events are predictive of adolescents’health assessments and that social support and self-efficacy prevent adolescents’health assessments from declining following traumatic events.

Assessing sexual trauma histories in homeless women

ABSTRACT Almost 1 out of every 3 homeless women (32%) in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia has experienced childhood sexual trauma. We assessed lifetime sexual trauma histories among 29 homeless women from three Southern California community sites: one residential safe house and two safe parking areas. More than half of the women (54%) reported a history of sexual trauma. That rate was higher (86%) among women living at the safe home than among women staying at the safe parking sites (only 42%). All four of the women who had served in the military reported having experienced military sexual trauma. The high percentages of sexual trauma found in homeless women highlight the need for effective interventions for sexual trauma.

Mantram Repetition With Homeless Women: A Pilot Study.

Women and families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. Negative attitudes of nurses toward homeless women are a major barrier to homeless women seeking health care. This cross-sectional, mixed-methods pilot study, conducted primarily by nurses, tested the Mantram Repetition Program for the first time with 29 homeless women. The Mantram Repetition Program is a spiritually based skills training that teaches mantram (sacred word) repetition as a cost-effective, personalized, portable, and focused strategy for reducing stress and improving well-being. For the cross-sectional, pretest-posttest design portion of the study, the hypothesis that at least half of the homeless women would repeat their mantram at least once a day was supported with 88% of the women repeating their mantram 1 week later. The qualitative portion of this study using phenomenology explored the womens thoughts on mantram week 2. Themes of mantram repetition, mantram benefits, and being cared for emerged. This groundbreaking, interventional, mixed-methods pilot study fills a gap in interventional homeless research.